Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Happy Chinese New Year and Losar (Tibetan) New year to everyone...

Happy New Year to you all!

Some years ago I celebrated this at a Western (Tibetan) Monastery. I was given the job of giving sustenance to the people who had decided to celebrate by prayer and intermittant fasting.
I have only one picture of my time at Samye Ling.

Previously, I had worked in the Stupa, helping the artist/sculptor. Again my main job was supplying sustenance. Milky tea and biscuits, if I remember correctly.
The mandrel in front of me, later became the structure for a Buddha statue, which now resides on Holy Island.
I have fond memories of the place.

Lotus released their facelifted Evora to the press yesterday.
No new product till 2020...Daily Telegraph:Gales now says there won’t be any all-new Lotus models until 2020, but is convinced there’s plenty life left in the ones they have. Guiding him is the guy whose portrait sits above the boardroom table: Lotus founder Colin Chapman.“A sports car company needs a hook. Our hook is the gentlemen who founded the company, who said simplify and add lightness. It’s so strong.”
Lotus intend to upgrade and add lightness to their existing range.

He’s also taking cost out. One of Gales’s innovations is to strip down all three models and display each individually-priced part on tables in what he dubs the tear-down room. Parts prices are then questioned and cheaper, ideally lighter, items are sought as long as quality is maintained. “It’s basically never been done before [at Lotus],” he said.In the 1980's we did this after every programme at Fords. I find it hard to believe that Lotus has never done this before.

On a positive note, The Evora will be appearing in convertible form. I have to assume Lotus had the wherewithal to package protect for this when they initially designed the car.

Perhaps, instead of just contributing to my educational proposal, Lotus might want to participate in some of the Continuous improvement design classes. I hope Proton, the parent company to Lotus do design analysis of their products periodically.